


In Loving Memory

by celeste9



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Movie: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Wakes & Funerals, X-Wing(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 08:31:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14040276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celeste9/pseuds/celeste9
Summary: BB-8 decides that Poe's mood and functioning would be improved if they held a memorial for Black One.





	In Loving Memory

**Author's Note:**

> For Poe Dameron Appreciation Week Day 3: Droid Friend

“Where are we going, buddy?” Poe asked as BB-8 urged him along, keeping close to his feet to ensure Poe continued moving in the right direction. “The general said she just took a transmission from Snap, Jess, Karé, and Iolo so I don’t want to miss them when they get here.”

_ [Estimated arrival thirty seconds,]  _ BB-8 informed him, just as they turned a corner and approached an old shed behind the hangar. The base had been inhabited previously by smugglers, according to Leia’s intel, and most of the buildings were still in decent shape. It had made moving in easier.

“Okay, okay,” Poe said, knowing there was no distracting BB-8 when he was on a mission. Just what that mission was, Poe supposed he would find out.

Thirty seconds was a good estimate, it turned out. Once Poe set foot inside the run-down building, he had to stop and blink before taking it all in, wide-eyed.

There was a small table with a hologram set in the center, as though in a position of honor, surrounded by a bed of greenery and tiny white budded flowers. The hologram was of  _ Black One.  _ Beside the table stood Finn and Rey, half-sheepish and half-amused.

“What is this?” Poe asked.

_ [You have been sad, Partner-Poe,]  _ BB-8 beeped in binary.  _ [Designation: General Organa did not include Black One in the memorial service.] _

“A grave oversight,” Poe said, to prompt further explanation. He wondered what Leia would say if he pointed out that she had forgotten the unfortunate demise of his ship.

BB-8 chirped enthusiastically.  _ [Affirmative! The memorial benefited all organics, improving mood, but you were still unhappy, and our partnership suffers while a new ship is acquired.] _

“And the…” Poe gestured at the table. “Memorial?”

_ [Humans need an outlet to mourn, so they may return to optimal functioning.] _

_ An outlet to mourn,  _ Poe repeated to himself. He wasn’t sure if he was more touched or astonished. BB-8 surprised him all the time.

“It was all Beebee-Ate’s idea,” Finn said. “We’re just here because he thought you needed support.”

“We found the flowers,” Rey added. “To add atmosphere. We didn’t… know  _ Black One _ , but I’m sure it was a good ship.”

_ [The best,]  _ BB-8 chimed in. 

“I liked how it looked,” Finn offered.

Poe knelt on the ground and held his arms out. BB-8 rolled a few inches forward to him and let Poe touch his forehead to BB-8’s dome, while the droid emitted a soft stream of happy burbling, not quite translatable. “Thanks, buddy.”

_ [You have not been yourself. When you are unhappy, it makes…]  _ The droid seemed to struggle to find the correct terminology to express what he wanted to.

Poe thought he understood. BB-8 didn’t feel emotions as an organic, sentient being did, but there was attachment between the two of them all the same, and BB-8 knew when something was wrong with Poe beyond the physical.

He stood up and walked closer to the table, brushing his fingers over Finn and Rey’s wrists as he went near them, murmuring, “Thanks for indulging him.”

“It’s for you, too,” Finn said, and Poe squeezed his palm for a second.

Poe looked at the hologram of  _ Black One  _ and said, “So I guess I should say something. Beebee-Ate and I are a team, but  _ Black One  _ was a part of that team, too. She was the best ship I ever flew, though she might not have been the most advanced model out there. We’ve been through a lot together, and she always saw me safely through.”

_ [Black One was the smoothest ride of all Partner-Poe’s ships,]  _ BB-8 said,  _ [and easy to communicate with.] _

“She helped us take out Starkiller, and a dreadnought. Our finest moments together.” Poe set his hand on the table. “I can only hope my next ship will be a fraction as reliable as she was, but she will never be replaced, and our team will never be the same.”

BB-8 made a mournful-sounding bleep and Poe shut the hologram off, in a sort of simulation of lowering a casket and throwing dirt over it. Poe found he appreciated the sense of closure.

“Goodbye,  _ Black One _ ,” Rey said, eyes awkwardly darting to Poe as if making sure that was right, and Finn echoed her words.    

It was probably a bit silly, to mourn a ship as though it had been alive, but Poe had meant it - he, BB-8, and  _ Black One  _ had been a team, synchronous, united, founded on trust. He and BB-8 had worked hard to keep the ship in order and at the highest functioning possible, and  _ Black One  _ had never let them down when they needed her. A good ship could keep you alive, and  _ Black One  _ had been the best.

Her loss wasn’t on exactly the same level as the friends and Resistance members who were no longer here, but Poe did mourn her all the same. Most of all, Poe appreciated the consideration BB-8 had put into this, and the thoughtfulness of Finn and Rey to go along with it. He wondered how much prodding BB-8 had needed to do but then thought it didn’t matter. They were here, helping him say goodbye to a ship, and that meant a lot.

“I think that was a fitting tribute to my favorite ship,” Poe said. “Thank you, Beebee-Ate.”

_ [You will be happier now?]  _ BB-8 asked.

“Yeah, buddy,” Poe said, smiling down at him. “Like you said, I needed an outlet, and a way to let go. We’ll get a new ship, and make a new team, because I’ve still got you and you’ve still got me. That’s what’s important, right?”

_ [Affirmative! Partners.] _

“Partners,” Poe confirmed, crouching down again to rub BB-8’s round metal body while Finn and Rey grinned at them, a measure of teasing in it, but mostly fond indulgence. 

The weeks since their evacuation from D’Qar had been difficult, so much loss, but Poe had faith that they would all be able to keep going. It was time to move on, and Poe would do it with the help of his friends.

  
  



End file.
